Betrayal
by chipzixo
Summary: The story of that fateful night involving Snape and the Whomping Willow. The story of Sirius' betrayal to his friends. Not slash, unfinished. R R please! RL, SB, SS, JP, PP, LE, AD.
1. Secrets and Saviours

**Well, I was reading through various fanfics on the site, and i couldn't find one that really described the incident with Snape, Lupin and the Whomping Willow. So, I thought i'd have a crack at it ;)**

**Disclaimer; I don't own Harry Potter or anything to do with it. JK does, that wonderful woman.**

_After Potions._

"Hey Snivellus."

Sirius Black strode over in the direction of Severus Snape, a playful glint sparkling in his eyes. He leaned on the desk, staring at Snape, currently packing away his books.

"What do you want, Black."

Sirius stepped back in mock offense, hand across his chest. "Well, Snivellus," he gasped dramatically, "I was going to tell you a secret. Quite a good one actually, if you ask me. But if you don't want to know, then fine." He smiled.

Snape rolled his eyes. "And what secret would this be? And why do you think I would be interested?"

"Well," Sirius stepped forward again, inches away from Snape, "It's about the Whomping Willow. See, I've heard that you can make it go still. And when you do, there's a passage, a tunnel, and it leads somewhere fantastic. As for why you would be interested, well, i heard all this from Remus."

Snape's eyes snapped up to meet Sirius'. Remus Lupin disappeared every month, without fail, and Snape has often wondered why. Perhaps this tunnel held the answers? Then a thought occurred to him.

"Why should I trust you, Black?"

Sirius raised one eyebrow, and his eyes flickered to the other side of the room. "You don't have to," he said, not looking Snape in the eye, "I just though you might like to know." With one last look at Snape, he was gone.

Severus sat back down in his chair, pondering the information. He watched as Black returned to his friends, when he noticed an absence. Lupin was missing, again.

That was enough. He simply _had_ to figure out why.

***

"Soooo..." James said, sprawled across his bed, his face lit by the moonlight outside, "We going to visit Moony tonight?"

His friends nodded from their respective beds. Peter reached down under his bed and pulled out their Map. Muttering the password, he scanned it. Everyone was returning to their dormitories now. He looked across the castle, following their escape route with his finger. Just as he was about to confirm their path was undisturbed, he noticed a dot out of it's usual position.

Severus Snape was heading to the Whomping Willow. Alone.

"James, Sirius, come and look at this."

The two boys lazily rolled off their beds and walked to where Peter was sat. They looked to where his finger was pointing, following Severus' movements.

"Where the hell is he going?" James asked, confusion spread on his face. They both looked to Sirius, who was sitting next to them and was for once incredibly quiet.

"What's up with you?"

Sirius' eyes slowly met James'. They were glistening with something close to fear. He spoke, his voice dry and whispered. "Oops."

Confused, Peter cocked his head to one side. "What did you do?"

"I..." Sirius seemed to find it difficult to put it into words, "I told Snape..."

"Told Snape what?!" James snatched the map from Peter's grasp, and was now on his feet. Sirius looked up to him. "I never thought he'd actually do it..." he said quickly, but James just asked him again. His reply was spoken to his feet, and was barely audible.

"I told him how to freeze the Willow. I told him how to get to Remus."

***

Peter stared in disbelief at his friend, but James seemingly didn't have time. He was already out the door.

"Where are you going?" shouted Sirius after him, following him down the stone steps. James stopped abruptly, and turned to face Sirius, anger blazing in his hazel eyes. He spoke quietly, as if to control his rage. His words made Sirius shiver.

"To fix your mistake. Don't dare follow me."

He watched, rooted to the spot, as James ran away. He heard footsteps behind him, and turned to see Peter staring at him, his brow furrowed in anxiety. "Sirius," he whispered, his voice shaking, "What have you done?"

------------------------------------

James was just leaving the castle as the thrashing branches fell still, and a cloaked silhouette disappeared beneath one. He tried to quicken his pace, but he was already running at full speed. He didn't dare shout after Snape, for fear of alerting the teachers. He just had to catch him in time.

He reached the tree, whose branches were beginning to reawaken. Quickly, he tapped the knot on the trunk, and dived into the entrance of the tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack. He crawled, doubled over, through the winding passage, the muddy walls crumbling at his touch. Near the end, he just made out a figure, and he reached for it. The figure let out a cry.

"What the.."

"Severus, we need to get out of here. Right now. Please, trust me." James could just make out Snape's head in the blackness. It was laughing.

"You really think I'm going to stop now, Potter?" Snape shook himself free of James' grasp, "I told you I would find out where your little friend disappears to every month. You can't protect him now."

And with that, he turned and advanced around the last turn of the tunnel. James followed, calling Severus' name, warning him they had to leave. He too, turned around the last corner, and banged into the back of Snape's frozen body. He peered over his shoulder, seeing what Snape could see. It was a fully grown, fully transformed werewolf, biting it's own tail.

Snape began to stutter as James pulled him away, back through the twisting labyrinth leading back to the castle. He pushed Snape into the cold night air and then pulled himself out of the muddy passage. He sat up, and looked over to Severus, who was shaking with shock. He reached out a hand in an attempt to comfort the boy, but Snape flinched away, drawing his wand, a maddened look in his empty eyes. They were dating to and fro, always resting on James, as the boy held his wand at James' chest in a shaking hand. James held his hands up, about to explain, but Snape cut him off.

"Murderer!" he shouted, not caring who heard, "No doubt you were in on this, Potter! You, your friends and your pet! You think I wouldn't find out? Oh, wait until the school hears about this!"

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Snape."

The calm voice of Albus Dumbledore cut off Severus' rant. He looked at each of the two boys, then walked back towards the castle, motioning for them to follow. Obediently, they did, Severus still shooting panicked side-glances at James every few seconds.


	2. Dumbledore's Office

They all sat in the spacious office, waiting for the old man to speak. James, Sirius, Peter, Lily and Severus sat around the grand desk in various chairs, all acting in different ways. James alternated his glares between Snape and Sirius, and for once, the ones directed at Sirius held more anger. Sirius stared down at his feet, not daring to meet the gaze of anyone in the room, very aware of what he had done. Peter was looking around the room, taking in the scenery, seemingly not fazed by the nights events. Severus' eyes never rested for more than a second, glancing between the other three boys in the room, apparently in fear. Lily stared at the others around her, very confused. It had been her and Peter who had run for Dumbledore, after Peter bothered her in the common room, insising on knowing the password to his office. As a prefect, Lily knew, and so accompanied Peter to retrieve the man. The events that had followed had confused her more than she thought possible, and she stared in disbelief at Potter's angry stares in Black's direction.

Dumbledore sat on the other side of the desk, reading some piece of unimportant parchment intently. When he had finished, he looked over the rim of his spectacles at the teenagers in his office, eyeing them all individually. Lily was first to speak.

"Sir," she said, looking him right in the eye, "Why are we here? At least, why am I here?"

"I wish to talk about tonight's events, Miss. Evans, and I have reason to believe you hold information which would be most useful to my enquiries." Lily thought about this for a moment, then spoke again, catching the wandering attention of the large boy next to her.

"What happened tonight, sir? I really don't know."

Dumbledore looked across line again, pushing his glasses up his nose. He chose his next words carefully.

"Soon, Miss. Evans. But for now, am I right in understanding that you are all aware of our friend Remus Lupin's... predicament?"

Realization hit Lily like a brick. So that was what this was about? That Remus' secret was out? She knew that the Gryffindors in the room were aware of Remus' 'furry little problem', but she was surprised to find that Severus knew too. She had found out just before she had started dating James, due to an event involving an early full moon.

Snape let out a shrill, manic laugh. "I do now!" he yelled, throwing his arms in the air, then pointing at Sirius, "Thanks to him, and his stupid prank! some prank, Black! Murderer!"

Lily began to panic slightly as Severus sat down again, encouraged by the headmaster. Murderer? What had Sirius done?She looked over at him, he was still focussing intently on his shoes.

"Mr. Snape, if I hear that word again, in or outside of this office, I will put you in two months detention. Understood? Also, if I hear any reports from my pupils of Remus Lupin's lyncanthropy, I will hold you responsible, and will have no other choice but to expell you. Now, if you would, I'd like you to promise you won't tell a soul of the events of earlier tonight," Snape reluctantly promised under the intense glare of his headmaster,"Good. Now, this meeting is postponed until Mr. Lupin awakes in a few days time. Once he does, I want you to explain to him what has happened, then bring him here as soon as possible. Until then," with a wave of his wand, the door opened,"Goodbye."

The students filed out, still acting in the same way as they had been when in the office. Sirius pulled out in front, apparently eager to get away from his friends. Lily still didn't have a clue what had happened, but she knew it couldn't have been good. She'd just have to wait until Remus returned.

**A/N: The story of how Lily found out about Remus is half-finished, it's called Lunar Disturbances. Go read! :)**


	3. Hurt and Betrayal

"Is he waking up?"

"I thought we told you to get lost, Black."

Remus awoke to the sound of James and Sirius arguing at his bedside. Something was wrong, he knew it. They didn't argue - they just didn't. He wondered what had happened as he scoured any scrap of memory from the past few days.

One memory caught his attention. It was stored away in the wolf's mind, adjacent to his, and the fragmented pieces of it scared Remus right to his core.

Someone was with him in the shack when he had transformed. Someone was hurt.

"Who is it?!" His eyes snapped open and he stared up at his three friends, standing to his right. He fought to stop his voice shaking and continued, "One of you must know, who was it in there with me?"

James' eyes slid to the floor, and he sat down in the chair near to the bed. "You remember, then," his eyes met Remus', an unreadable emotion in them, then rolled to look at Sirius, currently very interested in his feet. "Why don't we let him tell you the story?"

Remus turned to look at Sirius, waiting for an explanation. When none came, he asked again.

"Snape,"Sirius whispered, barely audible,"It was Snape."

All Remus' greatest fears hit him in one fierce swipe. He'd been seen, and someone was probably hurt. Namely Severus Snape.

"Don't panic yourself Remus, he's fine." Peter spoke for the first time, strangely confident. He nudged Sirius to carry on.

"I didn't mean to mate," he stammered, refusing to meet Remus' eyes, "I never thought he'd actually do it..."

Disbelief washed away the panic pounding at Remus' chest. Sirius had had something to do with this? He closed his eyes, not fighting tears, but anger. He could feel the wolf bubbling at the surface, waiting to break out.

"Sirius told Snape how to still the Willow." James explained, ice in his voice. Remus felt himself shake with anger. How could Sirius do something like that?

"I never, ever thought he'd go down there, Rem-"

"But he did, didn't he?" Remus cut off Sirius, an unfamiliar anger in his voice despite it's low volume. He couldn't contain it any more with him standing there. "Just go, Sirius. Get out."

"Remus, mate, I swear-"

Remus opened his eyes to stare at his so-called friend. He knew they could see the wolf on his face, but he didn't care as he gave a look only a werewolf could give. He could feel the angry shadows on his features, the amber highlights in his eyes burning. Sirius staggered backwards in the shock of his friend looking at him like that. Looking at anyone like that.

He swept out of the room, and Remus' head fell back to the pillow with a gentle thump.

Then the tears came.


End file.
